A Guide to Future Indian PMs for Getting Applause and Standing Ovations from Joint Sessions of the US Congress

A Guide to Future Indian PMs for Getting Applause and Standing Ovations from Joint Sessions of the US Congress

Written by Dr. Seshadri Kumar, 11 June, 2016

Copyright © Dr. Seshadri Kumar.  All Rights Reserved.

For other articles by Dr. Seshadri Kumar, please visit http://www.leftbrainwave.com

Disclaimer: All the opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of Dr. Seshadri Kumar alone and should not be construed to mean the opinions of any other person or organization, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the article.

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On June 9, 2016, Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, addressed the Joint Session of the US Congress. According to those busy counting, he received as many as 9 standing ovations and 40 rounds of applause. The full text of his speech can be found here.

Wow. Very impressive, eh? Those Yanks must have really liked what Narendrabhai told them. Absolutely. No question.

So what exactly did he say that made them applaud his speech like that? Did he speak about, say, the most famous and popular Indian dish abroad, Chicken Tikka Masala? Sorry, cross that out. Narendrabhai is a pucca Gujju vegetarian. Ok. Khakhra? Thepla? Khandvi? No. Besides, if that were the case, I wouldn’t be writing this article, as there is no guarantee that future PMs from India will be from Gujarat. Unless Anandiben Patel succeeds Modi as PM.

But not to worry, there is a method to the madness. In this article, which is written for the benefit of future Indian PMs who might have the good fortune of addressing Joint Sessions of the US Congress in the future, and who might need applause from the Congressmen and Senators to tell their constituencies back home how amazing and well-liked they are, I give a fool-proof set of tips on what topics to cover to virtually guarantee applause and standing ovations if you happen to give an address to the American Congress. If you play it right, you may even be able to beat Narendrabhai’s numbers of 40 and 9. It is a simple matter of psychology and understanding the needs of the Americans.

Sounds good? Get your pen and paper and start taking notes!

Topic 1: America the Great, the Just, the Kind, and the Brave

Americans always think their country is the nicest place on earth, the “double greatest” (to use one of the late Muhammad Ali’s over-the-top self-descriptions), and believe their leaders to be the most benevolent, who would never do things like overthrow democratically elected leaders and replace them with military dictatorships that oppress their own people and kill thousands, if not millions, with American guns.

This belief is part of the general doctrine of American Exceptionalism. It is important for visiting leaders to emphasize aspects of American benevolence and self-sacrifice if they wish to get repeated rounds of applause, whatever the reality of the situation may be in the world today, be it American intelligence forces helping foreign dictators perfect their torture procedures, invading sovereign nations under false pretexts like weapons of mass destruction, or unmanned drones killing innocent civilians. For example:

·       It was also the seventy-second anniversary of D-Day. On that day, thousands from this great country fought to protect the torch of liberty on the remote shores of a land that they did not know. They sacrificed their lives so that the world lives in freedom.

·       I applaud…India applauds – the great sacrifices from the men and women of the “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave” in the service of mankind.

The latter is a particularly nice touch as it alludes to the American national anthem. This should guarantee a standing ovation. Which patriot would not give a standing ovation when his national anthem is being praised?

It is also important to use World War II examples to highlight American bravery and heroism, as this was the last war in which Americans could credibly say they fought on the “right” (in the moral sense) side. The lack of moral ambiguity means that reminding Americans of their glory during World War II is guaranteed to get you a standing ovation.

And lies (for example, “in the service of mankind”) are perfectly okay. It is the feel-good atmosphere that is important, not facts. Remember, your objective is not to win a debate, but to get maximum applause. Also, if you lie in their service, they won't mind so much when you lie for your own benefit (more on that later.)

Topic 2: Democracy, Equality, Freedom of Speech

Americans are also very proud of their freedom of speech and democracy, and so visitors would do well to remind them and tell them how great they are. For example,

·       This temple of democracy has encouraged and empowered other democracies the world over.

·       It manifests the spirit of this great nation which, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, “was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

·       The idea that all citizens are created equal is a central pillar of the American constitution.

The second example absolutely demands a standing ovation. These words are from Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address, which every American school child knows by heart. It would be unacceptably unpatriotic for an American to not stand at attention when a visiting dignitary quotes this sacred verse of their history, and to not applaud as loudly as possible. It would be the equivalent of an American using the words “Tryst with Destiny” while addressing the Indian Parliament. (Well, what should be the equivalent response. These days Nehru is not that fashionable in India.)

Topic 3: Re-Emphasize The Greatness Of American Ideals By Reflection and Commonality

This is similar to the previous topic, but with an added twist. In the previous topic, American ideals were praised in isolation. In this topic, you should glorify American ideals by saying that they were so great that India also adopted them. Imitation is the best form of flattery, and nothing warms the cockles of an American’s heart than to hear that a country that became independent almost 200 years after it did took inspiration from American ideals to create its code of living:

·       As a representative of the world’s largest democracy, it is indeed a privilege to speak to the leaders of its oldest.

·       The genius of Dr. BR Ambedkar was nurtured in the years he spent at Columbia University a century ago. The impact of the US constitution on him was reflected in his drafting of the Indian constitution some three decades later.

·       Our independence was ignited by the same idealism that fuelled your struggle for freedom.

·       Our founders created a modern nation with freedom, democracy, and equality as the essence of its soul.

·       Our founding fathers too shared the same belief and sought individual liberty for every citizen of India.

·       No wonder that the shared ideals and common philosophy of freedom shaped the bedrock of our ties. No wonder, then, that President Obama has called our ties the defining partnership of the 21^st century.

What a nice guy. Aren’t we Americans great? We helped and are helping a nation of a billion people live a good, civilized, and moral life, based on our ideals. Give that guy another round of applause. Better still, a standing ovation!

Topic 4: Gandhi

Gandhi (the Mahatma, not Sonia) is unarguably the most famous Indian in the world. He is probably the most revered Indian abroad. It would be foolish not to milk him to the hilt, regardless of what you or your party or the “cultural organization” you originally come from actually thinks of him. Gandhi is so revered globally that simply taking his name guarantees a standing ovation. India has the monopoly on Gandhi. Absolutely stupid not to use your trump (no pun intended) card.

And, of course, Gandhi was influenced by America’s Thoreau, and Gandhi influenced America’s greatest civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK). MLK’s name also guarantees a standing ovation on its own. He was a great man, of course, but fear operates here in addition to veneration: you don’t stand up when someone respectfully mentions MLK, and people in the US, especially blacks, could think you were racist. And that might hurt you in the next election. So here goes:

·       Thoreau’s idea of civil disobedience influenced our political thoughts.

·       Gandhi’s non-violence inspired the heroism of Martin Luther King.

·       Today, a mere distance of 3 miles separates the Martin Luther King memorial at Tidal Basin from the statue of Gandhi at Massachusetts Avenue. This proximity of their memorials in Washington mirrors the closeness of ideals and values they believed in.

Topic 5: India’s Ideals Which Mirror Universal Ideals

It is always a good idea to talk about universal values, because everyone starts to feel warm and fuzzy: truth, honesty, respect for all faiths, harmony, unity in diversity, freedom of thought, expression, religion, and belief in the Constitution. Who can disagree? (Again, considerations of truth are not important here. This is not a press conference. People are not going to ask you awkward questions about how much “freedom from fear” Muslims or Dalits actually have in India. Nobody here is going to challenge your equal treatment of all faiths given that your politicians tell Muslims in India or even your critics to go to Pakistan.)

Go for it. Give it your best oratorical flourish:

·       And, in doing so, our founding fathers ensured that we continued to celebrate our age-old diversity.

·       Today, across its streets and institutions, in its villages and cities, anchored in equal respect for all faiths; and in the melody of hundreds of its languages and dialects.

·       India lives as one; India grows as one; India celebrates as one.

·       For my government, the Constitution is its real holy book. And in that book, freedom of faith, speech and franchise, and equality of all citizens, regardless of background, are enshrined as fundamental rights. 800 million of my countrymen may exercise the freedom of franchise once every five years.

·       But all the 1.25 billion of our citizens have freedom from fear, a freedom they exercise every moment of their lives.

As I have already emphasized, it is more important to entertain than be truthful. You are here to garner applause. People applaud what they are entertained by, not by what is truthful (except in rare circumstances.) They will not ask you about your lip service to the Indian Constitution and how it contrasts with your actual behaviour.

Topic 6: How America Has Helped India

Go read any book on how to become a better conversationalist and it will tell you that the best way to do this is to talk about the other person. The most favourite topic for any person is himself or herself. People love hearing positives about themselves, and think very highly of those showering praise. This is standard psychology.

But you can do better. The only thing better than praising someone is to show gratitude to that person. You are telling the other person that not only is he great, but that he is also kind and generous enough to help you in your hour of need. He is noble. And being noble beats being super-competent any day of the week.

Is he so miserly that he will not reward you with a standing ovation when you have done so much for him? Some samples here for your future reference:

·       The genius of Norman Borlaug brought the Green Revolution and food security to India.

·       The excellence of the American Universities nurtured institutes of technology and management in India.

·       You helped us turn barriers into bridges of partnership. In the fall of 2008, when Congress passed the India-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, it changed the very colours of the leaves of our relationship.

·       We thank you for being there when the partnership needed you the most.

·       You have also stood by us in times of sorrow. India will never forget the solidarity shown by the US Congress when terrorists from across our border attacked Mumbai in November of 2008.

The last point, again, absolutely demands a standing ovation, because only an uncivilized and unfeeling brute and emotionally-bankrupt monster would not grant one when reminded of the hundreds of innocent Indians who lost their lives to terrorism. Are their lives not even worth a round of applause and a standing ovation? Especially when the man says you helped them cope with that tragedy?

Topic 7: Povertarianism

Repeat after me: India is a poor country. Now say it another 20-30 times so you don’t forget this. Because this is extremely important when talking to Americans.

Especially to members of the American Congress. Some of these people have two or three mansions, a car for every member of the house, including one for the family dog; and most of them, especially senators, are millionaires. You cannot, in practice, run for the senate if you are not a millionaire.

So telling them about the poor wretches in India who have next to nothing – and telling them that you are going to lift these wretches out of the hovels they live in, that are not even fit to be called homes – helps alleviate a deep sense of guilt. The average American has 20 times the carbon footprint of the average Indian. If you made them feel that much better today – and by being around you on this day, listening to your promises to lift these people from the bottom of the barrel, they feel they too have done their bit – surely you deserve some applause! 

Further, when someone who is as privileged as an American confronts evidence of such abysmal poverty and misery, it is almost impossible for him or her not to think, “There, but the grace of God, go I.” Birth, after all, is an accident of fate, and so, at least for a fleeting moment, the American will thank his stars that he was born in the land of plenty that is the United States and not in a dreadful hellhole like India into a poor, miserable family. And so, hearing descriptions of miserable people in the Third World is very therapeutic for an American, for it reminds him that his life is not so bad after all, and that he has much to be happy about. Surely someone who has made you feel so much better about yourself deserves some applause?

Learn from these gems and understand how to talk up poverty:

·       A roof over each head and electricity to all households.

·       Have broadband for a billion, and connect our villages to the digital world.

·       And create a twenty-first century rail, road, and port infrastructure.

·       And, to be achieved with a light carbon footprint, with greater emphasis on renewables.

It doesn’t matter if you are actually going to do this or not. The person who is living in relative grandeur and luxury has to applaud when someone says miserable people should get the basics of life. Otherwise what does that say about him?

The statement on renewables is a nice touch because it again ignites the guilt of the Americans, who even today only produce about 13% of their total energy through renewables. So a third world country talking about renewables must be applauded – at the very least, to assuage their own guilt.

Topic 8: NRIs and PIOs

Remember that the objective of an address to the Joint Session is to get the maximum number of standing ovations and grand bouts of applause and interruptions. Don’t forget that your target audience is not America; it is India, including NRI and PIO Indians living in the USA. It is absolutely imperative to talk about NRIs and PIOs. And it guarantees applause because Indians are an important minority in the US. As with blacks, any reference to any American minority absolutely must be applauded effusively if, as an American politician, you are not to be accused of racial prejudice. It is important to praise the contributions of NRIs and PIOs:

·       Connecting our two nations is also a unique and dynamic bridge of three million Indian Americans.

·       Today, they are among your best CEOs, academics, astronauts, scientists, economists, doctors, and even spelling bee champions.

·       They are your strength. They are also the pride of India. They symbolize the best of both our societies.

With those statements, you have swelled the chests of all the NRIs and PIOs who, after these kinds of statements, will not brook one cross word against you by any critical writers such as me (especially after you even bother to mention spelling bee champions – and everyone knows all the PIOs in the US put their kids through spelling bee camps). This is an absolute winner, given your objective.

Topic 9: Benefits to American Business

The American is the global Marwari/Gujju and, just like the Marwaris and Gujjus, Americans love to hear about business benefits, and will happily give you as many standing ovations as you wish if you tell them how they can make a profit. So, no address to an American audience should leave out the important topic of how this is beneficial to them. And if you have any examples of Indians starting businesses in the US and providing jobs to Americans, don’t ever miss mentioning them. They are getting jobs from Indian business – they have to applaud! Some examples:

·       We trade more with the US than with any other nation.

·       Defence purchases have moved from almost zero to ten billion dollars in less than a decade.

·       As the US businesses search for new areas of economic growth, markets for their goods, a pool of skilled resources, and global locations to produce and manufacture, India could be their ideal partner.

·       Transformative American technologies in India and growing investment by Indian companies in the United States both have a positive impact on the lives of our citizens.

Topic 10: Promises to Help America Strategically

America is feeling the heat internationally. The two wars that little Bush pushed the US into, Iraq and Afghanistan, are taking a big toll on American resources. They need a partner who can share the load. No country has been foolish enough to take the bait so far, except NATO countries, which were forced into the American embrace because of the Cold War. But if you offer stuff like this, an ovation is the least they can do for you:

·       India is already assuming her responsibilities in the Indian Ocean.

·       A strong India-US partnership can anchor peace, prosperity, and stability from Asia to Africa and from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.

·       It can also help ensure the security of the sea lanes of commerce and freedom of navigation on seas.

Topic 11: Terrorism

This is the last topic on my list, but certainly not the least. In today’s climate, it is one of the most important topics if you want applause in Washington. The US government has been under fire from civil liberties advocates in the US for all the wiretapping, monitoring of emails, etc. of its own citizens, and under fire internationally for its illegal actions that are in stark violation of all international norms, like drone attacks in Pakistan, not to mention the blatant attacks of its key middle east ally, Israel, on the Palestinians.

Americans are being subjected to more and more intrusive surveillance at home, and giant facilities with monster data servers to store all possible information on all citizens of the US have been constructed. Boarding a flight in the US today is a nightmare, with security checks even for domestic flights taking up to two hours as you remove your belt, your shoes, your keys, your wallet, your phone, and maybe even your pants.

The government’s response to why all of this intrusion is necessary, and why the needless killing of civilians abroad is essential “collateral damage” and is unavoidable is the threat of terror, the axis of evil, and enemies all around us.

What better, then, than for a visiting Indian Prime Minister to echo exactly what the US President himself would like to say? There is no dearth of examples, which one has to reward with hearty applause and standing ovations:

·       Yes, distinguished members, not just in Afghanistan, but elsewhere in South Asia, and globally, terrorism remains the biggest threat.

·       Its philosophy is common: of hate, murder, and violence.

·       I commend the members of US Congress for sending a clear message to those who preach and practice terrorism for political gains.

·       Refusing to reward them is the first step towards holding them accountable for their actions.

·       The fight against terrorism has to be fought at many levels. And the traditional tools of military, intelligence, or diplomacy alone would not be able to win this fight.

·       Isolate those who harbour, support, and sponsor terrorists.

·       Terrorism must be delegitimized.

Got that, peeps? See, it’s not just us saying this. The world is a scary place – see, even the Indian PM is saying so. So keep quiet and don’t make any noise as we continue to record your phone conversations, snoop on your email, and maybe even photograph you using secret drones that look like strange flying insects. Didn’t you hear Modiji say, “Terrorism remains the biggest threat?”

Give that man another standing ovation!!

Concluding Remarks

Forty interruptions and nine standing ovations may seem intimidating as targets. But don’t worry, dear future Indian PM, when your turn arrives, keep this document handy and give it to your speechwriters so they come up with the perfect speech that can get even more standing ovations than PM Modi! (I mean, you don’t have to create this speech anyway – there are professional speechwriters who are experts in this business – and even for delivering it, there are teleprompters to help you. You can do it.)

There is certainly room for improvement, if you did not know – Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu got 26 standing ovations when he addressed the Joint Session of the US Congress in March 2015, irrespective of what people think about his genocidal tactics against the Palestinians. 

As I said before, it is not about whether you are morally right or wrong, or whether you are telling the truth – it is about whether you say the right things to make your hosts feel good. If you see that link on the Netanyahu speech that is in the link I have provided, you will be able to quickly see the instances where he got standing ovations. Worth learning from. And you can see from Netanyahu’s speech that Modi missed one important trick in his speech – he did not end it with “God Bless America.” That would have brought the house down. 

Of course, Netanyahu is a tall target, even for Modi, in many ways, but you get my drift – you can do it too, and do even better than PM Modi, if you only follow the principles in this guide!

Good luck, and Bharat Mata ki Jai! Vande Mataram! May you get more ovations than any previous world leader when you address the Joint Session of the US Congress!

Bose Died in 1945. Get Used to It.

Bose Died in 1945. Get Used to It.

Written by Dr. Seshadri Kumar, 04 June, 2016

Copyright © Dr. Seshadri Kumar.  All Rights Reserved.

For other articles by Dr. Seshadri Kumar, please visit http://www.leftbrainwave.com

Disclaimer: All the opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of Dr. Seshadri Kumar alone and should not be construed to mean the opinions of any other person or organization, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the article.

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The recent violence in the town of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, where a cult has stockpiled arms and encroached on 268 acres of public land, provoking an armed confrontation with the UP police that has resulted in the deaths of 24 people, is the latest consequence of a persistent myth that has carried on for 71 years: that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the late Indian nationalist leader, did not die in a plane crash in 1945. The founder of the cult that is responsible for the trouble in Mathura was a fraudster called Jai Gurudev, who claimed to be Netaji Bose. His successor, after Jai Gurudev’s death in 2012, claims that Bose is not dead and will make an appearance soon.

What I wish to show here is that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in 1945, even if stories of his survival are true.

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Who Was Bose?

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was one of the most dynamic leaders to come out of Bengal. He was born in 1902 and attended Presidency College in Calcutta (as Kolkata was then known), and was expelled from the college because he assaulted a Professor in the college who disparaged India and Indians in his comments.

Bose subsequently completed his graduation from another college in Calcutta, the Scottish Church College. Subsequent to this, he studied for the Indian Civil Service, was placed fourth in the examination and was selected for the British Indian Civil Service in 1920, but quickly resigned from it as he was unhappy serving an “alien” government.

He decided to go into politics and joined the Indian National Congress, the main party agitating for Indian freedom, in 1921. He advocated aggressive nationalism in Calcutta under the mentorship of Chittaranjan Das and became mayor of Calcutta in 1924. In 1925, the British arrested him for his anti-national activities and he was sent to jail in Mandalay.

After his release in 1927, he worked closely with leading Congress leaders and became general secretary of the party. He was again arrested by the British, and when he came out of prison he became mayor of Calcutta in 1930.

In the 1930s Bose visited Europe, meeting Mussolini in Italy. He wrote a book titled “The Indian Struggle,” which talked about the struggle for Indian freedom during the period 1921-34. The British banned the book.

By the time of his return to India, he was a very famous national leader in the struggle for Indian independence. This became obvious when he was elected the President of the Indian National Congress in 1938. However, in sharp contrast to the moral leader of the Congress, Mohandas Gandhi (a.k.a. Gandhiji or Mahatma Gandhi), who advocated a nonviolent struggle for freedom against the British, Bose argued for a violent freedom struggle. This caused deep division in the Congress and, despite winning the election for President of the Congress again in 1939, handily defeating Gandhi’s nominee for the post, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Bose had to resign as President as Gandhi and other Congressmen refused to cooperate with him.

By this time war clouds were looming over Europe. When war did break out, the British included India in their war against Hitler. Bose protested against this, calling for a mass civil disobedience against the British. Gandhi refused to agree with Bose, and so Bose organized mass protests in Calcutta demanding the destruction of the British monument to the “Black Hole of Calcutta,” a monument to commemorate an event where 146 British prisoners of war died through suffocation due to being confined in a small closed place (a dungeon) by the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah, in 1756. For this effrontery, the British jailed Bose again, but released him after 7 days of a hunger strike. He was released from jail but kept under house arrest.

Bose made a daring escape from house arrest, right out of a movie, and escaped to Afghanistan, then the Soviet Union, and finally to Germany to meet the Nazis for help to India in the freedom struggle. The details of this escape itself could be the basis of a movie. Subhas Bose was a man of great courage, daring, and ingenuity.

The Nazis helped Bose establish a radio station for the Azad Hind Radio, through which Bose made speeches propagating armed struggle for the benefit of Indians living in Europe. The Nazis helped him found the Indian Legion, an armed unit comprised of Indian soldiers attached to the Wehrmacht. Many of these soldiers were later captured in North Africa by the British.

In 1942, Bose met Hitler and realized that Hitler’s priorities were elsewhere and that he could not help Bose militarily, especially now that Asia was under the Japanese sphere of influence. So, in 1943, Bose left Germany on a submarine, transferred to a Japanese submarine off the coast of Madagascar, and travelled onward to the Japanese Empire.

In Singapore, Bose took over the Indian National Army (INA), an organization that the Japanese had conceived to help them eventually overthrow the British in India, that was comprised of captured British Indian soldiers. Bose organized the Azad Hind Government, which was recognized by the Axis powers and their satellites – Germany, Japan, Italy, Croatia, a Japanese puppet regime in Nanjing, a puppet regime in Burma, Manchukuo (Japanese-controlled Manchuria), and Japanese-controlled Philippines.

Bose fought along with the Japanese in Burma and in north-east India. The British defeated the Japanese and the INA troops and Bose retreated to Singapore. When Japan surrendered in August 1945 after the Americans dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, Bose knew he needed to leave Japanese territory. He left Singapore for Saigon, and later from Saigon he went to Taihoku, Taiwan. From Taihoku, he boarded a plane destined for Dairen, Manchuria, intending to surrender to the Soviets, but the plane crash-landed shortly after take-off and caught fire. Bose died later of third-degree burns. He was cremated and his ashes are interred in the Renkoji Buddhist Temple in Tokyo.

There ends the official version of the life and death of Subhas Bose.

Controversies Regarding Bose’s Death

In spite of the testimony of eyewitnesses and several inquiry commissions, a lot of people, especially Bengalis, believe Bose did not die in that plane crash in 1945. It did not help things that there were no photographs of Bose’s dead body; but in the chaos of war, it is hard for people to think of taking photos. The Japanese had lost the war and had much bigger things to worry about than taking photos of a dead Indian leader.

Here is a partial list of the rumours and developments concerning the “conspiracy theories” regarding Bose’s survival:

1.      An organization called the Subhasbadi Janata propagated a story that the sadhu (saint) of an ashram in Shaulmari, North Bengal, was actually Bose in disguise; that now, with India having achieved freedom, he was now engaged in meditation to “free the world.” These rumours continued in spite of the fact that the sadhu himself denied he was Bose.

2.     Bose was rumoured to be living voluntarily either in China or in the Soviet Union.

3.     Bose attended Jawaharlal Nehru’s funeral in 1964.

4.     Khrushchev told Nehru that if Nehru wished, Khrushchev could produce him within 45 days.

5.     The Soviets were blackmailing Nehru and Indira Gandhi by telling them that they had Bose in prison and would release him unless Nehru and/or Indira acceded to the wishes of the Soviets.

6.     Nehru knew Bose was in a Soviet prison, and ensured that the Soviets did not release him.

7.     Another sadhu, a certain Gumnami baba of Faizabad, near Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, was said to be Bose living secretly.

8.     Bose was living as a sadhu in the Naga hills in Assam.

9.     He was living in China and part of the Chinese army.

10.  Several official enquiries were carried out. The first was the Figgess report, which was performed in 1946 and concluded in no uncertain terms that Bose had died in the Taihoku crash.

11.   The Shah Nawaz committee, headed by Shah Nawaz Khan, a general in Bose’s INA, concluded in 1956 by majority that Bose had died in the Taihoku crash. However, one of the three main committee members, Suresh Chandra Bose, Subhas’ brother, wrote a dissenting note accusing Nehru of orchestrating a cover-up. Among the many reasons for his dissent was the incredulous assumption that “Bose could not have died before India achieved independence. Therefore, he must not have died in the 1945 crash.”

12.  That Bose died in Taihoku in 1945 was also concluded by another commission, the Justice Khosla commission, in 1970.

13.  The Justice KM Mukherjee committee of 1999-2005 concluded that Bose had not died in the plane crash, and that the ashes in the Renkoji temple in Japan were that of a Japanese soldier.

But Bose Died in 1945 … And Here’s Why

Most people who claim that Bose did not die in the Taihoku crash are people who claim to love Netaji. They want to show their love and support for Netaji by claiming he was alive and that the news of his death was a fabrication by Nehru or the Congress, for whom his return to India would have been problematic as he would have been a highly charismatic and an immensely popular political competitor. When asked about why Netaji would be afraid to come back to India, they answer that if he came back to India, the British would try to have him executed as an enemy of the state.

But all of these people are doing a disservice to the memory of Bose.

While the fear of being treated as an enemy of the state may have been true until 1947, it is certainly not a good argument in an independent India. Even in British India, the British found that they could not carry out the sentence on the key accused in the INA trials in 1946 – they had to commute the sentences. The INA under-trials were defended by people like Nehru himself. If Bose’s generals themselves were so popular that the British could not touch them, how untouchable would Bose himself have been, had he returned to India?

Even if the unfair allegations against people like Nehru (that they did not want Bose back in India) were allowed, is it even conceivable that Nehru or anyone else would dare to harm Bose, were he to come out in the open, say in 1948?

People who try to say that Bose was living the life of a sadhu in anonymity somewhere in India are insulting the great man’s memory. Look at the career graph of Bose that I have presented in brief. This is a man who could never sit quiet, who was not afraid of anybody. Here is a man who engineered a brilliant escape from house arrest that took him to Afghanistan and Russia on his way to Germany. This is a man who was never afraid of being jailed by the British, who had served several jail sentences, and yet kept challenging the powers-that-be. Do you really think he would be afraid to come out in the open just because the British might accuse him of treason, or because he was afraid for his life in a Congress-ruled India? Such explanations diminish his greatness and insult his memory.

Could a man who had been as active as Bose had been all his life live the remainder of his life in quiet anonymity as a sadhu in some village in North India? Bose was a man of the world, and his interest in public life was not limited to India achieving independence. He wanted to see India come out of its poverty, and believed in a socialist future similar to the Soviet Union as the way forward for India. There is no way he would have been sitting still in an ashram simply because India had achieved independence from the British. Had he been alive and come back to India in 1948, Bengal would have become communist, not in 1977, but in 1950. It is staggering that suggestions about Bose’s post-1945 life such as being a recluse are suggested or welcomed by members of Bose’s family. They are great insults to a life lived in the most dynamic way possible. More than any other leader of India’s independence movement, Bose was extremely impatient for change, and one cannot imagine a man of his nature ever sitting idle in an ashram for 30 or 40 years. To suggest that he would be afraid of a Nehru or any other Congress leader, when he had no fear of the British and its jails, and when he was not afraid of dying on the battlefield fighting the British army, is again a serious insult to his memory. Again, I cannot believe close family members advocate or admit such insulting possibilities. Essentially, suggesting that Bose lived in hiding in India after 1947 is tantamount to calling him a coward, and it is astonishing to hear self-styled admirers of Bose advocating this theory.

Bose would also never have lived secretly in China or the Soviet Union for years of his own volition. If he were free, he would definitely have returned to public life in India. The only way he could have been living in the Soviet Union after 1945 was if the Soviets had imprisoned him. But Stalin lived until 1953, and anyone who has studied Stalin carefully would know how paranoid a man he was, and that he would never keep such dangerous people as Bose in his captivity. The same is true of Mao, who took power in China in 1949. If Bose had ever been in captivity in the Soviet Union, my guess is that he would have been executed instantly in 1945 as having been a Japanese collaborator. Given that the reason the Indian government is giving in not releasing their archives on Bose is that such a release “might hurt relations with friendly nations,” my guess is that this is the most likely possibility regarding what happened to Bose in 1945. It should also be pointed out that, had the Soviets actually executed Bose in 1945, they would never had discussed this with Nehru or the Congress, because India was still a British colony and Nehru was not yet PM of India. Most likely they would have discussed this with the British, who at that point of time would not have been in the least averse to Bose being executed quietly, never to be heard from again.

There is still the remote possibility that Bose underwent a change in personality and became a coward who lived the rest of his life in anonymity as the Gumnami baba in Uttar Pradesh (or other baba theories). If that is the case, then such a person is irrelevant to India. The Bose we love and respect, the person who had the guts to militarily defy the mighty British Empire, died in 1945. The person who may have survived is a coward who is not fit to keep his old name, and it is meet that he lived the rest of his life as an unknown sadhu.

The Bose we knew died in 1945. One way or the other.

A Different Kind of Ballgame – The Golden State Warriors

A Different Kind of Ballgame – The Golden State Warriors

Written by Dr. Seshadri Kumar, 29 May, 2016

Copyright © Dr. Seshadri Kumar.  All Rights Reserved.

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Disclaimer: All the opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of Dr. Seshadri Kumar alone and should not be construed to mean the opinions of any other person or organization, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the article.

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Today, I saw a different kind of ballgame.

I used to be a regular NBA watcher when I was living in the USA. But I left the USA and came back to India in 2005, and never found the time to watch basketball matches, mainly because of the timing of the games. In 2005, very few NBA games were telecast in India, and few were telecast live. Today, every playoff game, and a lot of regular season games, are regularly shown live on cable in India. This year, I finally got a chance to watch some NBA playoff action after 11 years.

The first game I saw a few weeks ago was a game involving the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers. It was during this game that I learned about a phenomenal shooter: Stephen Curry, who is the league MVP. What was incredible about him in that game is that he seemed to be able to shoot three-pointers at will, from any distance, in spite of players opposing him. I have never seen such ability. Interestingly, he is the son of a well-known, but mediocre NBA player that I had seen during my viewing days in the USA – Dell Curry. But father was never anywhere as talented as the son.

I subsequently learnt through Google that the Warriors were the defending champions and are the owners of the best regular season record in history, with an astounding 73-9 record in the 2015-2016 season, beating even the legendary Jordan-led Chicago Bulls’ record of 72-10 set in 1996.

Today, I had a chance to see another playoff game. This was the Western Conference Finals, Game 6 – an elimination game for the Golden State Warriors, who were trailing Oklahoma City Thunder 2-3 and playing in Oklahoma. The odds were heavily against them. This time, I managed to get up early enough and watch most of the game (6 am Indian time.)

The Warriors were in a lot of trouble throughout the game, and I seriously felt they deserved to lose. There was a complete absence of post play. There were a few layups after fast breaks, but mostly players hovering around the 3-point perimeter and taking long-range threes – and missing many of them.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, on the other hand, were playing excellent team basketball. There was plenty of post action, people setting picks and freeing up open shooters who were attempting high percentage shots and scoring. Their defence was also much better.

And the results were what I would have expected…for most of the game. The Thunder were always leading the Warriors, by as many as 8 points at one time.

But then something dramatic happened in the fourth quarter.

Klay Thompson, one of the two nicknamed “Splash Brothers,” along with Stephen Curry, went on an unbelievable three-point streak – he scored 11 three-pointers in the game – a playoff record. Unbelievably, the Warriors outscored the Thunder 33-18 in the fourth quarter to win the game.

And that made me think.

A team that is playing really lousy team basketball wins the game because of incredible shooting by two supremely gifted shooters. These guys, Curry and Thompson, are so good at shooting the three-pointer that they can do it from 40 feet away while being double-teamed and having two hands in their face. These two guys are feeling it so much that often they release the ball after just two or three strides from the half-court line – and still sink the ball in the basket. This is talent from a different planet.

And yet, it is boring.

The Thunder were doing all the right things. Their players were getting in the low post, drawing fouls, making free throws, setting up pick-and-rolls, fighting for rebounds, and finding the open man who would sink a comfortable two-point shot from 15 feet away as opposed to a three from near the half-court. Any coach would be thrilled by the things they did, because coaches know winning basketball games is about high-percentage games. Three-pointers are low-percentage shots. So you want to work as a team and free up one player in each play you run, so that he is open and can make an easy basket. A lot of the hard work in a basketball game is done by players who do not have the ball. That has been the principle of all NBA coaches ever since I started watching the game.

It is like tennis, in which the successful players are those who have an all-round game, not those who can hit the most aces. If a player relies on serving aces all the time, he can succeed for a while, but there will be times when his serve does not click, and he will lose. Or in cricket, where a batsman cannot rely only on hitting sixes. He needs to have an array of ground strokes to be a great batsman. In the same way, basketball coaches do not normally like players who only take three-pointers, because they can fail. If you watch post-game interviews, basketball coaches rarely find fault with players who miss shots, but they get upset if their players are not playing as a team. The only team aspect of the Warriors is the ball-passing as all the players are hanging around the three-point line. I had to wonder if Warriors coach Steve Kerr had retained anything that he had learned from his former Bulls coach Phil Jackson about team basketball and the triangle offense.

Well, at least that is the conventional wisdom – that you must play an all-round game to win. But the Golden State Warriors have turned conventional basketball wisdom on its head. After all, this is a team that won the championship in 2015 and has the best regular-season record in history this season, so they must be doing something right. Right?

Wrong. They are just fortunate to have two incredible players on their team who are supremely talented – so talented that they can sink those baskets day in and day out. These two guys defy the laws of probability, as did one great gent in cricket from days long gone – Donald George Bradman. There is a famous account, mentioned in Wisden, of Bradman telling Neville Cardus that he needed to score at least 200 the next day against England to save Australia. Cardus responded that Bradman was being unrealistic because the law of averages was against his scoring a century the next day. Bradman’s response? “I don’t believe in the law of averages.” He proceeded to score 304.

And so it is with the “Splash Brothers.” The law of averages does not apply to them. They can score their threes at will from anywhere, game after game, as they have proved over two seasons now. But the game of basketball is poorer for it. There is no beauty, no strategy, and no team skill in the Warriors game. Of course, crowds are happy. Everyone loves a shooting party. And who can argue with winning?

Well, almost everyone loves it. Those who love the game of basketball and know there is more to it than shooting threes may not love this as much. One longs to see the perfect execution of the triangle offense, or to see the epitome of post play with the Houston Rockets of 1994-1995, with Hakeem Olajuwon in the post getting double- and triple-teamed as he dished out the ball to Clyde Drexler, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, or Sam Cassell to score freely – while often scoring against a double team himself by using amazing skill and footwork. That was beautiful to watch.

The Thunder did everything right today. They played their hearts out. They fought for every rebound and every loose ball. They got numerous second chances on offense. But they could not win against two supremely talented shooters. Tonight belonged to Klay Thompson, who scored 41 points with 11/18 from the 3-point line. Stephen Curry added 29. Together, they accounted for 70 of Golden State’s 108 points.

Golden State will likely stick with a winning formula, and the team is making history by playing a different kind of ballgame which conventional wisdom says cannot succeed – and showing it can succeed, with the right players.

But one thing is clear. This is not a formula that other teams can replicate. Shooting of this quality and consistency is extremely rare, and it is highly unlikely that another team will have players of the quality of Curry and Thompson. It is also Steve Kerr’s extraordinary luck that, being a three-point specialist himself, he has had the good fortune of mentoring two amazing shooters and passing on his knowledge to them.

Just as cricket saw a Donald Bradman who defied all conventional wisdom to score a test average of 99.94 runs per innings (the next closest to him is Wally Hammond at 58.45), Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry are defying conventional basketball wisdom and showing that one can win a ballgame purely by exceptional shooting.

Let’s see how long the party lasts.